Current Affairs December 06, 2018

1. The Government of the Republic of India and the Republic of Peru sign Co-operation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters

An Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Peru on Co-operation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters was signed on the side-lines of the 80th Session of the Policy Commission Meeting of the World Customs Organisations.

The Agreement provides a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries and will help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences.

The Agreement is expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the two countries.

2. World Soil Day : 5 December

World Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of December at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome, the regional offices and through national and local events.

The Solution to Soil Pollution campaign for World Soil Day 2018 aims to raise awareness and call people to #StopSoilPollution.

With a growing population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, soil pollution is a worldwide problem which degrades our soils, poisons the food we eat.

3. After a two-year journey, a NASA spacecraft arrives at its target asteroid

One of NASA’s deep-space probes, OSIRIS-REx, arrived at the space rock it’s been traveling toward for the last two years, an asteroid named Bennu.

OSIRIS-REx came within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the asteroid, which is closer than ever before.

Bennu is near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid about the size of a small mountain in the Apollo group. It was discovered in September 1999 by the LINEAR Projects.

Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO's GSAT-11 satellite also called the "Big Bird " was successfully launched into space from the French space port of Kourou in South America.

The satellite, launched at 2.07 am (IST), will help provide satellite-based internet to remote places where cable-based internet cannot reach.

The "Big Bird" has cost about Rs. 600 crore. The ariane-5 heavyweight rocket was hired from Arianespace by ISRO. The satellite is expected to have a life span of 15 years.

5. Salman Khan tops Forbes’ richest Indian celebrity list for third time, Shah Rukh drops out of top 10

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is the richest Indian celebrity, according to the 2018 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, which he has topped for the third consecutive year. Shah Rukh Khan has fallen out of the top 10 list.

The 2018 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List rankings are based on estimates of entertainment-related earnings of celebrities. The period under consideration is October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.

The actor's earnings are pegged at Rs 253.25 crore. Salman, 52, cemented his place in the top spot thanks to the commercial success of his movies

6. Tamil writer S Ramakrishnan gets Sahitya Akademi award

Tamil writer S Ramakrishnan (52) has been honoured with Sahitya Akademi awardfor his novel Sancharam which deals with the lives of nadhaswaram artistes.

Ramakrishnan is a full-time writer who has been active over the last 27 years in diverse areas of Tamil literature like short stories, novels, plays, children’s literature and translations.

Among the many important awards won by him areTagore Literary Award for his novel Yamam. Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award for best young playwright.

7. SpaceX launched 64 satellites in record-breaking mission

SpaceX delivered 64 satellites into orbit in one fell swoop for a record-setting mission.

It marked one of the largest satellite ride-sharing missions ever launched and the most crowded single mission in US history, according to Spaceflight, SpaceX's customer for the launch.

The latest version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, called Block 5, is designed to fly as many as 100 times before retirement, and up to 10 times without significant refurbishment between flights.

SSO-A was the first mission Spaceflight has filled a rocket entirely with its small satellite customers. They came from 34 companies and organizations across 17 countries.

8. Paisabazaar will now tell you chance of your loan application approval on its platform

Online lending marketplace Paisabazaar has launched a new feature by the name of 'Chance of Approval' on its website which will help its loan applicants chose the most suited lender on the platform.

With the Chance of Approval feature, they are bringing Indian consumers one step closer to the best international consumer experience for lending products.

The ‘Chance of Approval’ feature will match a borrower’s profile, like income, credit score, age etc., with the various lending criteria of banks.